I HAVE never been a big Manly fan, primarily because as kids my twin brother was a passionate Sea Eagles supporter and I followed the mighty St George Dragons.

It was a healthy sibling rivalry.

But allegiances aside, the disarray at Manly at the moment is very sad. For obscure reasons, some are hell bent on destroying a truly great footy club.

Love them or despise them, the Sea Eagles are an NRL powerhouse.

Introduced into the competition in 1947, they have won eight premierships and played finals footy in 43 of those 67 seasons.

In more recent years they have been stand-outs, not having missed a final series in the past decade and winning two of their four grand finals in that time.

But unless someone at Brookvale starts to crack the whip - and a few heads - those momentous days might be over. Manly's status as a genuine premiership threat appears as shaky as the hold their No.1 ticketholder - PM Tony Abbott - has on his job.

In their favour though is ridding themselves of Anthony Watmough. Although a terrific player, Watmough has been fractious since his status recently outgrew his form.

Criticism of the club in general, coach Geoff Toovey and even former teammates, has not endeared him to those on the northern beaches who once idolised him.

But then no one could surely be surprised at anything Watmough does or says.

And while Glenn Stewart was once an integral part of the Manly success, his 45 games from a possible 81 in the past three seasons indicates his injuries could be endemic.

The huge chip he carries on his shoulder certainly won't be missed.

But the major issue heading into season 2015 is the on-going hullabaloo over the future of halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Keiran Foran. The 'will they-won't they stay' soap opera is well into its second year and has become a total bore and no doubt an even greater distraction.

Having said that, the fortunes of Manly - short and long term - is anchored to the decisions of this pair. It's odds on that if one leaves so will the other and the club may well fall apart without them. In fact, after the disruption of the past 12 to 18 months with player unrest and boardroom in-fighting, the eagles' nest could disintegrate almost immediately.

When it comes to player movement, I'm old school. Provided they are well looked after and happy, players should feel a loyalty to where their glittering careers were nurtured. And Manly has certainly given Cherry-Evans and Foran their launching pad.

Sea Eagles fans will no doubt hope the recent signing of Steve Matai might just be the catalyst for two more signatures - maybe this week.

The author Tony Durkin used to be the editor on RLW back in the day and hes always been really fair in the way he discusses our club and other league issues. He is right though to illustrate that no individual should ever be bigger than the club and that is the message out of this article.

At the moment we are all prisoners to this bloody process that has festered in relation to our halves deciding their future. There are so many lessons to learn from this and I hope the club is never forced into this position again.

There are so many lessons to learn from this and I hope the club is never forced into this position again.

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I'm interested in what lessons we should learn from this.

Should we not consider keeping money aside for players coming off contract in coming years in case they leave anyway and just sign whoever is up next?

It seems like if we kept Gift we would have been giving up on one of the halves a year ago.

Obviously, if you are going to move on a club legend it is important to pay him as much respect as possible throughout the process.

I just don't know what the club could really have done to avoid this, other than set a deadline for Foz and Cherry to re- sign a full season before their contracts are up, which might only have antagonised them and increased the risk of losing both.

Hopefully I'm wrong and the club has learned enough to ensure we don't have to ho through this again.

I suppose we could just be like the Raiders and let players go elsewhere as soon as they start to show potential greatness.

The disarray does not please me either. It has sucked out all my enjoyment for the beginning of the season.
Normally I would be pumped as. Thursday night kick off, Manly/Parra Friday night, happy days.
But tbh, I have never been so HoHum about the start of the footy season. And that sucks really.

One thing to remember is that this has been one of the biggest off seasons in the clubs history. Think about the fact that:

- Ownership was resolved with the Penns taking full control
- New CEO and staff put in place
- Leagues club sold
- 10 year plan put in place (which makes a hell of a lot more sense than Parras pie in the sky 5 year version)
- Then you have all the player stuff: Choc, Gifty, Kings depart, new signings

The fact the DCE and Foz arent signed is bad but in light of everything that's been happening at the club, we are kind of overlooking the fact a hell of a lot has been done.

Budgewoi EagleIn for the long haul.Premium Member2016 Tipping Competitor

Oh kids! We are wounded but not out. You can't look forward to seeing Snake, Killer, Skivvi, Buhrer, Lui, JSL, Ballin, Lawrence, Mase, the Turbos, Gutho? .... In short, 17 players running out in Maroon and White? You can't get excited about our Manly? There's gotta be an investigation!!!!

Not to worry @Budgewoi Eagle A couple of wins and everyone will be back on board. This situation kind of reminds me of the SOO situation where all the Blues fans were so over all the origin crap. The catch cries then were, I wont be watching it, I'm bored with it, it's a joke, we can't win it, Qld just have too much talent in this current generation, it's stupid, it means nothing, we'll only get injuries and on and on......

However, when the Blues won it....WOW!!! Suck it Qld! Woohoo!! How good was that??!! The Blues were outstanding!!!!

The same will happen here. Once we hit the field and put some wins together, the sheep will turn. You'll hear, It felt like we were in for a big year! Our halves were on fire today! I wouldn't swap our forward pack for any other!! Toovey has done an amazing job with the team through all the crap in the off season! Jamie Lyon gets better every year! Hiku is outstanding! Horo must read these forums...since I gave him a spray, he has really been playing well, and on and on......

It's one of the sites most endearing qualities. I call it the flip and spin.

Not to worry @Budgewoi Eagle A couple of wins and everyone will be back on board. This situation kind of reminds me of the SOO situation where all the Blues fans were so over all the origin crap. The catch cries then were, I wont be watching it, I'm bored with it, it's a joke, we can't win it, Qld just have too much talent in this current generation, it's stupid, it means nothing, we'll only get injuries and on and on......

However, when the Blues won it....WOW!!! Suck it Qld! Woohoo!! How good was that??!! The Blues were outstanding!!!!

The same will happen here. Once we hit the field and put some wins together, the sheep will turn. You'll hear, It felt like we were in for a big year! Our halves were on fire today! I wouldn't swap our forward pack for any other!! Toovey has done an amazing job with the team through all the crap in the off season! Jamie Lyon gets better every year! Hiku is outstanding! Horo must read these forums...since I gave him a spray, he has really been playing well, and on and on......

It's one of the sites most endearing qualities. I call it the flip and spin.

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I used to flip and spin in my younger days , got a few wickets as well!

We won't be the only club to be held ransom by Generation Y players and their managers.
The situation of being able to negotiate with other clubs more than one year out from completing current contracts is destablising the sport. It needs to be fixed.
Why can't all negotiations for upcoming seasons be held at the completion of that year's comp? There is several months to get the deals, trades etc done - and it would minimise this on-going soap opera. To be placed in a position of cheering for players who you know have signed with a rival club for the following season is not good for anybody. If that player has a poor game then they become enemy No. 1. The situation sucks the enjoyment from fans, who are the lifeblood of rugby league.

Not to worry @Budgewoi Eagle A couple of wins and everyone will be back on board. This situation kind of reminds me of the SOO situation where all the Blues fans were so over all the origin crap. The catch cries then were, I wont be watching it, I'm bored with it, it's a joke, we can't win it, Qld just have too much talent in this current generation, it's stupid, it means nothing, we'll only get injuries and on and on......

However, when the Blues won it....WOW!!! Suck it Qld! Woohoo!! How good was that??!! The Blues were outstanding!!!!

The same will happen here. Once we hit the field and put some wins together, the sheep will turn. You'll hear, It felt like we were in for a big year! Our halves were on fire today! I wouldn't swap our forward pack for any other!! Toovey has done an amazing job with the team through all the crap in the off season! Jamie Lyon gets better every year! Hiku is outstanding! Horo must read these forums...since I gave him a spray, he has really been playing well, and on and on......

It's one of the sites most endearing qualities. I call it the flip and spin.

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Nope. Still think SOO is a waste of time. I'd be happy to keep it going if all Manly players were prevented from playing.

Not to worry @Budgewoi Eagle A couple of wins and everyone will be back on board. This situation kind of reminds me of the SOO situation where all the Blues fans were so over all the origin crap. The catch cries then were, I wont be watching it, I'm bored with it, it's a joke, we can't win it, Qld just have too much talent in this current generation, it's stupid, it means nothing, we'll only get injuries and on and on......

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Turn it up Moz. Selective memory there mate. It was the whinging cane toads who were crying SOO was dead after NSW won in 2003, 04 and 05. It was only a last minute try to Lockyer in 2006 that saved SOO otherwise Qld would not even have shown up in 2007. Sooks...